Illinois always looked like marriage equality would be an easy thing. Even when they seemed to prefer Civil Unions, AKA Marriage-Lite, I thought they’d smarten up and go for full marriage rights for gays and lesbians.
But then Maryland happened first, and Delaware and, for the love of Ellen, Minnesota went all equality, and still we waited for Illinois; as did most LGBT Illinoisans.
Then this past week it looked like it might happen, then looked like it wouldn’t and then like it would. And then it didn’t. No vote. Illinois State Congressman, Greg Harris, decided to put off the vote on equality until November.
Now, however, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has allowed for the bill’s deadline to be extended for approval until August 31st. So, if Governor Pat Quinn called lawmakers back to the state house in August for a special session to address pension reform—also left without resolution—he could include Senate Bill 10 in a special session proclamation.
And if Quinn declines to include marriage equality in any order to lawmakers, Madigan could call a House special session of his own at the same time to take up the legislation.
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| Top to Bottom: Michael Madigan, Greg Harris, Pat Quinn |
A lot of ‘ifs’ but it’s a reprieve people, which means all of us, not just the people of Illinois, need to step up our game, and write to the Illinois legislators and demand that offer full marriages rights to all Illinoisans.
And even then, if, during a summer session, Illinois lawmakers would need to amend the bill and change the effective date from “30 days” from a gubernatorial signature to January 1, 2014 in order to avoid a 3/5th or 71 vote requirement, something many see as an insurmountable hurdle. Amending the effective date would also require the Illinois Senate to concur with such a change. So, while it might seem like a stroke of good luck, a deadline extension by itself resolves none of the political problems associated with the bill’s opponents, but it may give advocates—and we are all advocates, whether we live in Illinois or not—an incentive to work to resolve them before summer’s end.
Sidenote: Let’s knock off the Blame Game, too. Stop blaming the Black churches, stop blaming the churches, stop blaming the GOP, stop blaming groups. Sure, some of the Black churches lobbied against the legislation, but not all; sure, some republicans worked against equality, but not all.
Let’s focus on those who stand on the right side of history rather than trying to lay blame at an entire group’s feet.
M’kay?
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